Environmental News Network - Study Achieves Longest Continuous Tracking of Migrating Insects

Details: By University of Exeter; 16.Aug

Insects are the world’s smallest flying migrants, but they can maintain perfectly straight flight paths even in unfavorable wind conditions, according to a new study from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz in Germany, and the University of Exeter in the UK.

Julie Swatson

Insects are the world’s smallest flying migrants, but they can maintain perfectly straight flight paths even in unfavorable wind conditions, according to a new study from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz in Germany, and the University of Exeter in the UK.

Researchers radio-tracked migrating hawkmoths for up to 80 kilometres – the longest distance that any insect has been continuously monitored in the wild.

By closely following individuals during migration, the world-first study unlocks a century-old mystery of what insects do over their long-range journeys.

The study, published in the journal Science, confirms that hawkmoths can accurately maintain straight trajectories over long distances, employing sophisticated strategies to counter and correct for unfavorable wind conditions.

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Study Achieves Longest Continuous Tracking of Migrating Insects